Japan, China vow to keep up ties, despite Nanjing row, spying arrests

TOKYO, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe
and China's top diplomat on Wednesday vowed to keep up a recent
warming in ties, even though new irritants, such as a row over
documents about the 1937 Nanjing Massacre, threaten the nascent
recovery in relations.

Relations between the neighbours, haunted by the legacy of
Japan's World War Two aggression and conflicting claims over a
group of East China Sea islets, have warmed after Abe met
Chinese President Xi Jinping twice since last November.

But a fresh chill seemed likely after China last month
announced the arrest of two Japanese for spying, and Japan this
week threatened it might halt funding for UNESCO over a dispute
about documents related to the 1937 Nanjing Massacre.

UNESCO included a dossier submitted by Chinese organisations
in the latest listing of its "Memory of the World" programme,
which aims to preserve important historical materials.

"China and Japan are important neighbours to each other,"
Chinese State Councillor Yang Jiechi said at the start of his
meeting with Abe on Wednesday.

"We would like to step closer to Japan and constantly
promote the improvement and development of bilateral ties."

He also told Abe the development of healthy and stable
relations was in the interest of both countries, China's foreign
ministry said in a statement after the meeting.

Yang on Tuesday agreed to pursue high-level dialogue in a
meeting with Abe's national security adviser, Shotaro Yachi.

"I've heard that you had a good meeting with Mr. Yachi," Abe
told Yang before Wednesday's event was closed to reporters. "By
holding such high-level talks repeatedly, I would like to bring
forward relations between the two countries."

These events include a G20 summit in Turkey and Asia Pacific
Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit meetings in the Philippines,
both set for November.

Abe expressed "serious concerns" over Chinese vessels'
activities in the East China Sea, and both agreed to push for
early adoption of a communication mechanism, now in the works,
to avert misunderstandings between their militaries, Seko said.

Patrol vessels and fighter jets from both Japan and China
have been shadowing each other on and off near the disputed East
China Sea islets, raising fears that a confrontation could
result in a clash.
(Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka; Additional reporting by Gerry
Shih; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)